Thursday, June 3, 2010

Email from Ray Carney re: KING OF HEARTS

I just got this email today from world-renown film critic Ray Carney (cassavetes.com) who is known within the Independent Film World as one of the toughest cookies to please. I had sent him an email a few weeks ago about a play I was in called "King of Hearts", but he never responded and I thought there was no way in hell that he would actually come and see it. But apparently he did!I post his email here for two reasons: first, I like to toot my own horn, but second, the email says a couple of interesting things about the responsibility an actor has to portraying a character truthfully.Here is the email:From: "Ray Carney" To: m2burns@comcast.netSent: Thursday, June 3, 2010 7:15:13 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada EasternSubject: at the intersection of Norfolk and 1A.....Matt,I waved but you didn't see me. I was pulling out of Norfolk St. at around 5:40 today from 1A and you were turning onto it in a small black car. But it did remind me that I have been remiss in telling you what a great job I thought you did in King of Hearts. You wonderfully stayed "inside" your character (the deaf mute), functioning from HIS perspective and HIS understanding. That is the essence of drama. So many actors play themselves, from THEIR OWN points of view, but you played your character, from his pov. Great work!Forgive me for being out of touch for so long. No excuse. Just busy. (Currently editing a book chapter in FRENCH and my French is primitive. Welcome to my world!) Stay well. And keep doing the drama/acting thing. You have talent!RayRay Carney, Prof. of Film and American StudiesAuthor: Cassavetes on Cassavetes (Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Faber and Faber); Shadows (British Film Institute/University of California Press); John Cassavetes: The Adventure of Insecurity; The Films of Mike Leigh (Cambridge University Press); The Films of Frank Capra (Wesleyan University Press); Speaking the Language of Desire: The Films of Carl Dreyer (Cambridge University Press); The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies (Cambridge University Press), and other worksRay Carney's web site--"The Independent Film Pages"http://www.Cassavetes.comRay Carney's blog--"Necessary Experiences: Why Art Matters"http://people.bu.edu/rcarney/aboutrc/letters.shtmlMailing address: Prof. Ray CarneyCollege of Communication640 Commonwealth AvenueBoston UniversityBoston, MA 02215

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About Me

Matt Burns is not a New York Times bestselling author but he predicts he will be in the future; thus, he’s confident in saying that he is, indeed, a New York Times bestselling author (it just hasn’t happened quite yet). Both his debut novel "Johnny Cruise" and his filmmaking memoir "Garage Movie" are now available on Amazon. Also available are his numerous Kindle singles, including his best-sellers "Jungle F’ng Fever: My 30-Year Love Affair With Guns N’ Roses", "My Raging Case of Beastie Fever", "Three Days in Hollywood", "I Used to be a Gamer" and "Bostonwood". More notably, he has been published in the Los Angeles-based literary magazine "Poetic Diversity". Burns currently lives outside of Boston and makes films/videos in his spare time. Visit mattburnsproductions.com to learn more about him.